Five steps to perfect lipstick application

Some people shy away from wearing a bold lipstick. The upkeep can be a pain but that’s only when not applied correctly. Beautiful lips are easy when you have the knowhow.

Step one

You don’t have to use a lip scrub everyday but try to do it once a week. A good lip scrub will remove all traces of dead skin and leave your lips beautiful and smooth. Lush have some amazing lip scrubs a personal favourite is the Bubble Gum Lip Scrub.

Step two

Before you start to apply your makeup take a little extra time to apply a lip balm. Burt’s Bees Lip Balm it has a beautiful texture and comes in a variety of flavours and not to mention it works wonders in a small amount of time.

While applying your foundation run it over your lips to mute down your natural lip pigment, this will prevent the natural pinks in your lips changing the tone of the lipstick and help it stay true to its colour. This also helps to prevent the lipstick from ‘bleeding’.

Step three

When people hear lip liner you can’t blame them for thinking of the old school dark liner and pale pink lipstick but believe me it is a step you do not want to miss. When applying you should shade in all of your lips taking extra care around the cupids bow. The liner should be the same colour as your chosen lipstick or as close as you can find.

Lip liner prevents ‘bleeding’ and acts as a base for your lipstick and will take a lot of eating and drinking to remove, as lip liners contain wax they are waterproof and once your lipstick has worn off you will still have colour on your lips instead of just an outline.

Step four

For precision lips use a lip brush a tapered edge is ideal to fill in cupids bows and create perfectly even lips. Load up your brush and apply over the lip liner and be careful not to stray outside the lines. Once applied blot off excess with a tissue and re apply another layer, layering thin layers of products prevents caking and helps the product last longer.

Step five

You can add a bit of gloss If you want extra sheen but be warned this will fade your lipstick faster so be prepared for extra touch ups. If using gloss keep it to the centre of your lips. This will make your lips appear fuller.
 

Written by: Ashley Waugh